vista or still use xp

Scruff

As i've said in this thread here ive to buy a laptop (dell) for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work, internet and maybe music and the odd dvd.

Am i better getting them one with XP or Vista?

joe_chicken

Running Vista Premium for about 6 weeks.

For the most part it's been great.
Things I like:
- I'm a sucker for the flashy UI design (I like the big icons, copying files animations [I look at these a lot, see below], the application previewer in the task bar...)
- The Network browsing seems 1000 times faster than XP
- Being able to view and edit start-up programs through Windows Defender
(maybe not the best anti spyware program, but to have it built in is nice)
- The system score thing, very handy for people to quickly see if they can handle requirements for games and software.

Things I don't like:
- Copying files, it seems to take an age.
- A handful of BSODs, to be expected with a new OS and device drivers, not Microsofts fault.

Anyone saying Vista is just a stop gap and you should wait for the next OS should remember that XP in itself was just Win2000 repackaged... and yet that's lasted 6 years.

Would I recommend buying it just to upgrade from XP; no.
Do I think it's potentially a better OS than XP; yes.

sebastianlieken

'for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work'

in that case go with vista. it is whether anyone agrees with me or not, the way of the future. its coming, theres no avoiding it, and its actually pretty user friendly, and its good for office type work. and when service pack 1 comes out, it will be as near as makes no difference to being 'perfect'

VISTA....YEAAAAAH!!!....

joe_chicken

sebastianlieken wrote:

'for complete computer novices who will only be using the laptop for office type work'

in that case go with vista. it is whether anyone agrees with me or not.

I agree completely.
Looking long term, it'll be a lot harder to get support in the coming years for XP.

Support for XP Home and Media Centre will end April 2009

Capt'n Midnight

zod wrote:

afaik if you buy a PC with Vista .. you are licenced to run an older equivalent OS without licencing issues??. It was this way with Office anyway.

If it's true.. then you can buy vista, install XP and upgrade the OS in a years time when another 2GB of RAM is 50c

Vista HOME does not allow you to use an earlier version of windows

the cost of upgrading in a year is probably more than getting OEM Vista business or premium now , and downgrading to XP or 2000 Pro until you decide to use the Vista license

POI - windows 2000 server license did not allow you to use NT4 server
most OEM office licenses have not had downgrade rights , just the retail and volume ones

rabbitinlights

I just bought a new sony laptop that came with Vista Business, 2ghz/2gbs ram/256 Nvidia 7400.

It runs like a dream, the only problem I have is with getting nero to run? It just seems to stop installing half way through?

I thought this was very funny:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY

SeanW

Windows Vienna (codename) is expected to be released in 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vienna

jahalpin

I have been using Vista Home Premium since the middle of Febuary (I would have gotten it sooner but I had to wait for Microsoft to send it out after the launch at Croke Park) and I haven't had any problems with it at all.

It installed drivers for all my hardware automatically, except for the Creative XFi-Xtrememusic card as Creative only had beta drivers until around the middle of March and even the beta drivers worked perfecty when I installed them.

Vista is by far the best OS that Microsoft have ever released and is probably the best mass-market desktop OS ever.

I have used a Mac on a few occasions (free internet in Apple store in San Francisco) and I find the UI terrible. As for security Apple are releasing security updates quite regularly these days. Apples' market share is around 4% whereas Microsoft Windows has around 90% so of course hackers are going to spend considerably more time trying to crack the market leader than some also-ran OS. Linux is also terrible as a desktop system as it is not very user-friendly and hardware support is patchy at best.

System Spec: Dell 9150, Intel Pentium IV 630, 3GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB HD, Sapphire X1600pro with 256MB, Creative X-Fi Xtreme-music soundcard

unkel

I suppose it depends on what you use your pc for and how your personality wants to deal with a change of environment. I had enough tbh after nearly 6 years of XP and I fully migrated to Vista last year

Perfect transition? No, but not bad - nearly 100% functionality except for a wait of a few months for a vista driver for an ancient Samsung parallel laser printer (and a silly AVG anti-virus login issue). The vista total upgrade went better than my last attempt though: xp32 to xp64 about a year ago which was a disaster

maidhc

jahalpin wrote:

Linux is also terrible as a desktop system as it is not very user-friendly and hardware support is patchy at best.

I actually switched from XP Pro to Ubuntu on my laptop. I had to do a bit of fiddling to get my broadcom wireless to work, but I am delighted with the results. It is very efficient, the UI is sensible, and if you like eyecandy that is also on offer if you install Beryl.

I still have an XP partition, but I can honestly say I haven't used it in a long time. I still run XP on my desktop, I might migrate when I have more time, but for now XP is ticking the boxes.

I can't ever see myself upgrading to Vista. The way MS is going with rights management, and licencing suggests following a MS operating system is not viable in the long term.

maidhc

maidhc wrote:

I can't ever see myself upgrading to Vista. The way MS is going with rights management, and licencing suggests following a MS operating system is not viable in the long term.

Agreed. I also find it too slow at booting up, if I were using it permanently I'd be hibernating rather than shutting down. I'll probably go the Apple route again soon and use XP and Boot Camp to cover anything that won't work.